Alcatel-Lucent Launches META Solution for All-IP Mobile Backhaul Migration

| October 10, 2007 | Optical Infrastructure, Carrier Infrastructure
| Competitive Intelligence Report | Analysts: Jason Marcheck, Glen Hunt

Current Perspective: Positive
Vendor Importance: High
Market Impact: High

Event Summary

On October 8th Alcatel-Lucent launched its Mobile Evolution Transport Architecture (META) for mobile backhaul evolution, which offers a migration path from TDM/PDH backhaul to all IP, supported by Ethernet and MPLS. META provides end-to-end management to simplify and reduce OpEx, plus three new products to deliver services over any transport – copper, fiber or wireless. This is the first major new architecture announced since the company’s merger.

Analytical Summary

• Current Perspective: Positive on Alcatel-Lucent’s announcement of its Mobile Evolution Transport Architecture (META), because it provides operators with a comprehensive portfolio to address mobile backhaul evolution requirements in support of broadband mobile services such as higher bandwidth data, music and video. To this end, META is designed to offer flexibility, reliability, and scalability that are needed by operators to leverage their current network assets while also supporting the migration from TDM/PDH backhaul to all-IP RAN that leverages Ethernet and MPLS.

• Vendor Importance: High to Alcatel-Lucent, because META combines the strengths of its IP routing, optical transport, microwave and integrated network and service management portfolios to deliver a very comprehensive solution to the market. As integral components of the architecture, the newly launched 1850 TSS-5 (hybrid optical transport), 7705 SAR (IP/MPLS Service Router) and 9500 Microwave Packet Radio (MPR) are clear examples of the company’s commitment to provide optimized solutions to address mobile backhaul requirements under a variety of deployment considerations.

• Market Impact: High on the mobile backhaul market, because it puts the market on notice that Alcatel-Lucent is making strides in crafting new offers that leverage the diverse capabilities brought together when Alcatel and Lucent merged. The META framework provides operators with a comprehensive solution for their mobile backhaul traffic regardless of the transport media (i.e., copper, fiber or wireless). Going further, the integrated management suite will further reduce OpEx by offering management integration across the wireless and wireline domains as well as integration with OSS systems.

Recommended Competitor Actions

• Tellabs should highlight its “Integrated Mobile solution,” which enables an operator to leverage an existing mobile network and offer new 3G mobile services.

• Ericsson should highlight the strengths it provides to the mobile operator. Not the least of these would be its global service organization, which has years of experience in building mobile networks.

• Nokia Siemens Networks should tout the depth of its mobile experience and products that can be leveraged to satisfy the mobile backhaul requirements.

• Nortel should highlight its metro Ethernet backhaul solutions that are enabled by the OM 3500/5200 and the OME 6500 optical Ethernet platforms as a more mature solution compared to the new products Alcatel-Lucent has announced.

• Cisco should compare and contrast its Mobile IP NGN architecture to that offered by META. Cisco should show the value in providing operators with a single infrastructure that brings efficiencies in OpEx and CapEx compared to the multiple disparate networks.

Recommended End-User Actions

• Mobile operators should evaluate the integrated management proposition offered by Alcatel-Lucent’s META as early as possible, and begin testing the integration of IP and microwave, IP and optical, etc. Gaining first hand experience will help determine the actual value that the integration can bring the operator. Early adoption would also help to identify any organizational constraints that may exist that would potentially dampen the benefits.

• Mobile operators that are using a variety of IP, optical and microwave transport solutions in their backhaul networks should evaluate the strengths of Alcatel-Lucent’s META since an integrated management suite could result in significant OpEx savings.

• Mobile operators should press Alcatel-Lucent and other vendors for a point by point analysis regarding the merits of leveraging MPLS in the access network as compared to other models such as PBB-TE. Of particular concern would be issues such as quality of service, OAM, provisioning, resiliency and CapEx/OpEx. The analysis should be tailored to the operator’s current network to determine migration, the mix of current and planned services and any geographic issues.

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